Answers to Deja Vu Questions

Some questions never seem to go away. That may be because we run into the same rules problems time and again in tournament play. For example, at the final table when play becomes heads up, where should the button be placed? Although the answer is fairly standard, E-mailer Bill recently ran into a situation in which a floorman made an incorrect decision. "I was playing in a no-limit hold'em tournament in Arizona when play got to threehanded at the final table," he explained. "Seat No. 7 posted the small blind of $8,000, and seat No. 1 (the chip leader) posted the $16,000 big blind. Seat No. 5, with the button, was the first to act and raised all in with his last $40,000. The small blind folded, and the big blind called and won the hand, knocking out the all-in player.

"Now, here's the problem: The dealer moved the button to seat No. 1, who had just posted the big blind in the previous hand, told him to post the small blind, and then told seat No. 7 to post the big blind. Then, he dealt the cards. The player in seat No. 7 started arguing that he should have the button and the small blind, which would require seat No. 1 to post the big blind twice. After a long argument involving two floorpeople, seat No. 7 was given the button and the small blind, and seat No. 1 had to post the big blind. Then, the hand was dealt over. I think this was a very bad decision. What do you think?"

I agree that the floorpeople's decision was just plain wrong. The rule is very simple: No one takes the big blind two hands in a row, which means that when play gets to heads up, the placement of the button can be altered to comply with the rule.

Never-ending question No. 2 involves not only a rule, but a point of tournament etiquette that T.J. Cloutier discussed in a recent column: asking to see a hand that has been mucked. E-mailer Steve wrote: "I just read your article in which a player requested that another player's mucked hand be turned up. What is the rule with this situation? I've never played a tournament, but it seems to me that if I muck a hand, no one else should have the right to turn it over."

If the final hand has been called and the losing hand mucks his cards facedown, anyone at the table has the right to see the mucked hand. But the dealer must first touch the hand to the muck before turning the cards faceup. That is the rule. Personally, I virtually never ask to see a mucked hand for two reasons: (1) I don't want to embarrass the loser; and (2) If the dealer doesn't kill the hand properly, a winning hand could accidentally be exposed that would cost me the pot. For answers to these and other questions, you can refer to Ron Cramer's book, Official Rules, Regulations, and Procedures Manual for Poker, which many cardrooms use as a reference tool.

Speaking of rules, The Bicycle Casino has come up with a new tournament rule called the "f" rule. It works like this: If someone uses the "f" word at the poker table, that person is immediately subjected to a 20-minute penalty. Reportedly, the conduct of the players has improved remarkably. I highly commend the Bike staff for this innovation, and would like to see it adopted elsewhere. A friend of mine invented a little joke about the new rule that he pulled on me recently. "Suppose you're at the Bike playing a tournament when an obnoxious player draws out on you and then starts to needle you," he set me up. "What should you do?" When I couldn't come up with the response that he was looking for, he asked, "What do you call a man who mixes cement with a fork?" Again, I couldn't think of the right words. His answer: "They call him a mortar forker."

Now let's move to a ring-game question: How much money should you bring to the table with you? John, who dubs himself "The Really Cool CPA," began his E-letter with words that are music to my ears: "I've read Championship Hold'em and Championship No-Limit & Pot-Limit Hold'em, and received a good education from both books." However, with the discerning eye of a trained accountant, John noted, "One question was not really addressed in either book – bankroll. Especially in pot-limit or no-limit games, what should the buy-in be compared to the blinds? I realize that in high-limit poker, it is best to have enough money to cover the table, but outside of that, what is a proper buy-in amount and what amount should you have in reserve? I also have the same question for higher-limit limit hold'em, where I typically buy in with 20 times the big blind and am prepared to put that much back on the table if I go broke."

First of all, let's hope that you never go broke! In limit hold'em, about 20 times the big blind is a good enough criteria. In pot-limit poker, you should go for 40 to 50 times the big blind, unless your strategy is just to take a short shot, double through, and leave the game. Chips give you more maneuverability, whereas if you have a much shorter stack to start with in pot-limit side games, you often will wind up getting all of your money in rather quickly with little opportunity to get full value for a good hand or protect a marginal hand. The only exception is taking the short shot and leaving without taking a big risk, but when you do that, you're not playing to win, you're playing not to lose, a strategy that usually backfires.

I remember seeing a player at the World Series of Poker last year who initially lost about $10,000 in a pot-limit cash game and was allowed to make a short buy-in in the same game. Two days later he cashed out around $700,000! That was the biggest turnaround for that size of game that I've ever heard of. Let's hope that we both can emulate his success in the winner's circle this year at the WSOP.

Editor's note: Tom McEvoy is the author of Tournament Poker and the co-author (with T.J. Cloutier) of the Championship Series: Championship Hold'em, Championship No-Limit & Pot-Limit Hold'em, and Championship Omaha, all of which may be ordered from Card Player. For more details, visit www.pokerbooks.com. Send your comments and questions to the authors at [email protected].

Visit McEvoy's new website, www.tournamenttalk.com, for current information on the tournament scene and links to other poker websites.